Tourism Events Sponsorship Guidelines

1. Before you start

Please read all the information contained in these guidelines and the application form before applying. This will give you the best chance of success by making sure your application meets each of the selection criteria.

The application form must be completed online through SmartyGrants. See Section 8 on this page for more information.

If you need help completing the application, use our Grant Writers' Guide for Tourism Events or get in touch with us, we’re here to help! Call 4474 1066.

2. Closing date

All applications must be submitted online by the advertised closing date and time.

Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.

3. Do you need sponsorship for a tourism event?

The aim of the Tourism Events Sponsorship Program is to support event organisers to plan and deliver successful destination and sports tourism events.

We are seeking tourism events that drive economic development in Eurobodalla through a significant leisure event, or regional/state sporting event that attracts intra and interstate visitation.

• Destination events that appeal to Eurobodalla’s key visitor markets, occur outside of the peak season, align to brand and create local pride are encouraged to apply for funding of up to $8,000.
• Sports tourism events that appeal to Eurobodalla’s key visitor markets, occur in low season or mid-week, activate key infrastructure and generate local pride are encouraged to apply for funding of up to $5,000.

4. Funding availability

• Tourism event sponsorships of up to $8,000 are available to support not-for-profit community groups and commercial event operators. The Tourism Events Sponsorship Program is provided once every financial year.
• Funding will be provided on a once-off basis without a commitment to ongoing funding.
• Applicants may only receive grant funds from Council’s Tourism Events once per financial year.
• Funds may be spent only on approved items and activities specified in the grant application, and any alterations must be discussed with the Council’s Tourism Event Coordinator. Please be aware that the amount of tourism event sponsorships requested each year may outweigh the available budget, therefore, not all requests will be funded.

5. Assessment criteria

Please check each item listed in these three criteria groups to ensure your project meets all relevant criteria.

Funding eligibility criteria

• The event organiser must hold public liability insurance to the value of $20 million and provide a copy of certificate of currency for Public Liability Insurance to the Council prior to receiving funds.
• The event must be held in the Eurobodalla Shire and benefit the local community.
• The event organiser must not have already received a grant from Eurobodalla Shire Council in the current financial year.
• The event organiser must have satisfactorily acquitted any Eurobodalla Shire Council funding, donation or grant allocation from previous years (if applicable).
• The event organiser must have the capacity to successfully plan, deliver and acquit a compliant event.

Tourism event criteria

• Applicant can effectively describe the expected outcomes of the tourism event.
• The proposed tourism event drives economic development attracting intrastate and interstate visitation.
• The proposed tourism event appeals to Eurobodalla’s key visitor markets, occurs outside of the peak season, aligns to brand and creates local pride.
• The proposed tourism event does not duplicate an event already available in the local area and does not clash with other Eurobodalla planned tourism events.

Projects NOT considered for tourism event sponsorship funding

• Fundraising events that donate a large portion of their surplus funds at the cost of being financially sustainable.
• Capital works and facility maintenance projects.
• Retrospective applications.
• Events with a political campaign focus.
• Travel, accommodation costs or any costs associated with local, national or interstate representation of any programs, projects and services considered the responsibility of other government departments, individuals and private-for-profit groups.

6. Funding agreement

If your application is successful you will receive a Funding Agreement from Eurobodalla Shire Council. Your obligations under the agreement include:

• Obtaining and complying with all certificates and approvals required by law in order to hold the proposed event
• Advising Council in writing if there are significant changes to the event as described in the application, or the contact details of the recipient.

The Funding Agreement will also outline how you will need to acknowledge the contribution made by Eurobodalla Shire Council to your event. This may include but is not limited to:

• create, update and maintain an event listing with ATDW
• Council having the opportunity to display banners (as supplied by Council) at events
• Council having the opportunity for a stall at the events
• announcements made by the MC or over the PA system acknowledging Council’s support on the day of event.

If the event is cancelled, the funds are required to be repaid to Council.

7. Acquittal of funds

Successful applicants are required to provide to Council, within two months of the completion of the event, a post-event report and a brief financial statement detailing how the funds were expended.

The post-event report should include:

• a brief evaluation report which clearly demonstrates key outcomes achieved for the Eurobodalla economy
• examples of promotional materials acknowledging Eurobodalla Shire Council as a funding partner
• a financial summary providing details of income and expenditure.

Applicants that do not complete evaluation reports will be ineligible for future funding.

8. How do I apply

We provide an online application tool to help you prepare and submit your application. It’s called SmartyGrants and is available anytime.

SmartyGrants allows users to work on their application progressively and securely. If you’re a new user, you will need to start by registering a new user account at the above address. You will need an email address that you have regular access to, and all written notifications relating to your application will be provided via email.

• Select the Tourism Events Sponsorship application.
• Once registered and logged in you will be redirected to the “Before you Begin” page, which will have important information that will help you through the process of submitting an online grant application.
• Please read this, and then select “Fill Out Now” button located at the top of the page.
• This will take you to the application form where you can commence your application.
• Applicants can only apply online when funding rounds open.

Support or access to computers and the internet can be provided if required.

Prior to preparing your application you are encouraged to discuss your application with Council’s Event Team.